Scott County Central boys basketball team routs Glasgow 78-48 in Class 1 semis

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Glasgow freshman Blake Hackman laid on the Hearnes Center court after unsuccessfully diving for an errant pass.

All he could do was mutter to himself as the ball scooted out of bounds for another turnover during the third quarter.

Glasgow coach Mick Cropp looked on in disgust with his hands on his hips after another turnover just moments later.

Scott County Central's pressure defense sickened Glasgow in their Class 1 state semifinal.

"It was tough, kind of spastic," Glasgow junior Reid Littrell said about the defense. "It was faster than anyone we've ever played."

The Braves forced 27 turnovers in their 78-48 victory to earn their fourth consecutive trip to the state championship game. They've won the last three.

"I've got almost the rest of my life to mess around," SCC senior Dominique Porter said. "I've got the mindset that I want to win the state title, so that's what I'm doing."

SCC (21-10) will face Drexel (26-4) in Saturday's 5 p.m. state title game at Mizzou Arena.

SCC set the tone from the start with its pressure defense Thursday. It forced 18 turnovers in the first half to build a 23-point advantage at the intermission.

Scott County Central starts to celebrate on the bench as time runs out during the Braves' 78-48 win over the Yellow Jackets in the class 1 semi-final in Columbia Thursday. Scott County Central will play in the championship game Saturday. (Photo by Adam Vogler)

"Put pressure on their guards and make sure our press worked," SCC junior Jaylen Porter said. "It worked pretty well, more than I thought."

The Yellowjackets struggled to get the ball across half court. They would inbound the ball and begin working the ball up the court when the Braves sent two defenders rushing to the ballhandler. Glasgow was whistled for two 10-second violations in the first quarter.

"They're awfully good, awfully quick," Cropp said. "We don't ever see any quickness like that, so it's hard to really emulate that or adjust to it.

"I thought when we got the ball to the half court and where we wanted to get it and slowed the pace down, we did a fairly good job of executing in the half court. It's just that they were few and far between."

Glasgow actually led 7-4 with 5 minutes, 29 seconds left in the first quarter, but the Braves reeled off a 14-0 run that was fueled in part by seven Glasgow turnovers during that span.

"Our whole mindset was to put the pressure on the guards up top so they couldn't get it to [Littrell] because that was their main scorer, so we just tried to put the pressure on the front of them and not let them score," Dominique Porter said.

The Braves used another big run, this time an 11-0 spurt that included four Glasgow turnovers in the second quarter, to take command.

Glasgow shot well in the first half -- 50 percent from the field -- but it couldn't get shots. The Braves attempted 17 more shots than the Yellowjackets in the opening half.

Scott County Central guard LaMarcus Steward goes up over Glascow center Joel Monnig for a basket during the Braves' 78-48 win over the Yellow Jackets in the class 1 semi-final in Columbia Thursday. Steward led Scott County Central in scoring with 24 points. Scott County Central will play in the championship game Saturday. (Photo by Adam Vogler)

The Braves didn't let up to start the third quarter. They forced the Yellowjackets into another eight turnovers in the third period. A 13-0 run in the quarter put the Braves ahead 60-29 with 3:44 left in the third.

"We try to get them real tired to the point where they just throw the ball away and start having turnovers," Dominique Porter said. "Using our speed at the front of our press or even the back, it gets a lot of tips on the ball, which overall makes them turn the ball over."

The Braves finished with 16 steals, including six from Larandis Banks and three apiece from Dominique Porter and Antonio Johnson, but they weren't satisfied with their defensive effort.

"We were sloppy at some parts," Dominique Porter said. "I think after we got past 30 [point lead], we just kind of floated back and stopped putting the pressure on them. We kind of stopped putting pressure on them like we did the first quarter. We started just letting them bring the ball up."

Glasgow finished shooting 50 percent from the field (21 of 42) compared to 52.5 percent for SCC, but the Braves attempted 19 more shots in the contest. A big reason was their defensive effort, which overwhelmed Glasgow.

"I don't think our conditioning was the issue," Cropp said. "Throwing the ball into their hands was the issue and out of bounds was the issue. You just really can't prepare. You can put six guys out on the floor, but we had nobody in the county who's as quick as they are, and they have five guys in one spot."

LaMarcus Steward led the Braves with 24 points, while Dominique Porter added 23. Dillon Yung paced the Yellowjackets with 21 points.